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FLU: How To Get Rid Of Or Prevent it

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How To Get Rid Of The Flu

Here’s how the flu usually work, picture this, you’re celebrating the most festive time of the year. All kinds of togetherness with the whole family and friends then suddenly, BOOM!.

You end up with this nasty sore throat or the snuffles and it all begins, your festivity comes to a crashing halt because after all, it’s cold or flu season.

Estimated Flu Statistics

Every year the flu affects an astounding amount of people. According to the CDC, every year since 2010, influenza has resulted in a whopping 9.2 million to 35.6 million illnesses, 140,000 to 710,000 hospitalizations and 12,000 to 56,000 deaths in the U.S alone.

On a global scale, 3-5 million people suffer severely and 291,000 to 646,000 people die from seasonal influenza-related respiratory complications each year.

What Is The Flu?

Influenza (the flu) is an infectious respiratory disease caused by an influenza virus. It is highly contagious and ranges from mild to severe, sometimes resulting in death. There are 3 types of flus that affect us, Type A, B and C. There is a forth type (D) that is said to primarily affect cattle.

The flu can spread by touching surfaces like; counter tops and door knobs, interacting with someone contaminated by the virus by way of sneezing, coughing, blowing nose, kissing and hugging.

Symptoms Of The Flu

Signs that you may have the flu are as follows;

Fever/chills

Headache

Nauseousness

Diarrhea

Sore throat

Coughing

Running/stuffy nose

Fatigue

Extreme Symptoms That Should Prompt You To Seek Medical Attentions

Confusion

Chest pain

Dizziness

Shortness of breathe

High fever

Extreme vomiting

Note: The flu is definitely not an illness to play with because of how it can go from mild to severe so quickly.

How To Ease The Symptoms Of The Flu

Drink your fluids – It is super important to remain hydrated during this time, make sure to drink plenty of water, juices, soups and herbal teas. It helps to break up the phlegm and keeps you from feeling worst as the flu passes.

Rest – Be sure to get plenty of rest too. Your body is trying to fight for you and should be allowed to channel all of it’s energy on the current attack on your immune system.

Stay away from others – You are highly contagious so be mindful of others and try to stay away from school or work mates but if you are unable to miss time off, try to keep your distance and practice flu etiquette by washing your hands, wiping surfaces and sneezing into your elbow or a Kleenex or handkerchief.

Take Showers – Take a warm shower daily and inhale the hot steam to help with congestion. We tend to shy away from the shower when we are sick but it can sometimes uplift your spirit and make you feel so much better. Plus it keeps you hydrated since the flu seems to naturally dehydrate you. (Not recommended with a high fever, instead use cool water).

Elderberry Syrup – My favorite! It is made a berries known to combat the influenza virus!. It is super nutritious and highly effective on boosting the immune system. The flu has nothing on elderberries. The berries are anti-inflammatory, anti-influenza AND anti-viral which makes it just as effective on colds, allergies and other respiratory illnesses.

My Thoughts On Remedies

By now you have realized that I love natural healing and herbal remedies! I am not totally against western medicine…it is just a last resort for our household. We do not believe in vaccination so that is not the route that we go.

This is not medical advice to you so do what is right for your family and always consult with your doctor before using anything….anyway…

If you can pair the two together then you’re in the sweet spot. What I mean by pairing the two together is; using modern day technology with natural healing herbs.

For example, I have been to the doctor about an issue I was having with my lower abdomen.

After going to my doctor and finding at what was happening and possibly what the cause was, I paired the healing abilities of herbs to solve the problem.

So pairing the two together can be very beneficial.

What Are Elderberries

Elderberry also known Sambucus, is a wild scrub. It is native to Europe and North America and can be found in low lying areas, like; along side roads, swamps etc.

The plant is a large bush about 6 feet tall with long arching branches that bares white clusters of flowers that can sometimes be mistaken for the Queen Anne’s Lace but the bodies of the plants are totally different in identification. The berries are dark in color and red or maroon colored flesh.

Elderberry Blossums

Nutritional Value Of The Berry

These berries are loaded with antioxidants and essential vitamins and minerals; See info below from Cronometer.

Real Testimonies

As I mentioned before, they are our go-to and I have recommended and offered my friends and family the berries to help with their own bouts of the flu.

All of them had excellent reviews about the effectiveness of the berries and I have documented a couple of them below.

My friend, I will call her C. Her family of 5 was having a rough time with the flu that completely wiped out the entire household. As a friend who check in from time to time, I asked her how the family was doing.

That is when she told me about what the family was going through and I immediately told her about elderberry syrup and what it is used for. She agreed to give it a try and shortly after, her family felt so much better.

Here is C’s testimony:

As for me and my husband Levi, we haven’t had the cold or flu in a while but we did feel a “tickle” once or twice and we immediately took some of the syrup that we saved in the freezer to quickly nip it in the bud.

The tickle went away instantly for both of us. (two separate occasions).

Additionally, my mother in law was feeling under the weather when she suddenly realized that she had the flu. Levi came back from his visit and told me and I immediately whipped up a batch of elderberry syrup and sent it to her. Instantly she was better.

Here is mom’s testimony:

Elderberry Syrup Recipe

If you would like to try the syrup as a natural treatment to combat the flu. Here is the recipe.

Hello, I'm April and my mission here is to get down to the nitty-gritty of reclaiming my health and connecting with other women out there that are struggling with their self-image, fertility, weight loss issues and overall wellness.

You’re welcome, we are never without elderberry syrup at our home! I hope your husband get feeling better soon. I have a link to all the ingredients within this post. There should be an elderberry link or try this one : https://amzn.to/2Dx4eeQ and thanks for stopping by!

I totally stand by elderberry syrup! I take 1 tsp. every single day and was the only one in my home not to catch the sickness that just came by last week. It was a nasty one too, I was totally thinking I was going to get it!

Don’t you just love the power of the elderberry! Your comment has blessed my heart beyond words! I’m so happy to see this and so humbled by God’s thoughts of us when He designed this world, thank you so much for this comment and for stopping by 🙂 #happytears

Nature is very fruitful and giving indeed! It’s the gift that keeps on giving 🙂 . You mentioned that elderberries may be rare where you’re from and now I’m curious to know where are you from? haha anyway, thanks for stopping by.

April

Joanna

I had the flu last year for the first time in a very long time. It was so bad that I couldn’t ease the symptoms with anything. In the end the doctor had to give me antibiotics and only then I started to feel better.

That is terrible, I am so glad that you were able to get some relief. If you should ever contract with flu again and any upper respiratory complications in the future, I hope you remember the uses of elderberries and give them a try because they are so potent and powerful with no underlying damages to your body. Thanks so much for visiting my blog 🙂

This is good to know. The cold and rainy weather is not cooperating lol and I lot of people is getting the flu or allergies. It’s nice to know how to handle this. I try to take natural remedies and lots of liquid. Thank you for sharing!

You are so right! last year was insane for the flu! it seems like everybody was coughing, snuffling or something. I am so thankful for natural remedies and for sure keeping hydrated. Thanks for stopping by and please share this post with friends and family, thanks 🙂

Grandma is 100% correct! the elderberries are super effect all on their own and may not be very easy to find in some areas so its awesome to have back up methods! Thanks for grandma’s wisdom and thank you for stopping by.

The flu is so hard for families with young children. This year we were told the flu shots at our pediatrician’s office were only available for children under three because there is a shortage. I’m happy to see there are other ways we can be minimizing our risk.